Page 26 of Blueline Baby

And then it’s my turn to forget my own name.

She gets my pants down and her hand around me. The first slow stroke nearly finishes me right there, which would be humiliating, so I grit my teeth and breathe and hold on. She’s not experienced, I can tell. She’s careful at first, testing, watching my face. But she learns fast and without mercy. The second she finds the grip and the pace that makes my breath stutter, she does not let up. Her thumb drags over the head on every pass. My hips come up off the bed to meet her hand, and I completely forget everything that came before her.

I try to keep talking. I make it about four words before she twists her wrist just right and my brain quits on me entirely.

“Fuck, Chloe.” The only thing I’ve got left is her name.

She watches me fall apart with her lip caught between her teeth, thrilled with herself, thrilled with this power she just discovered she has over me.

“Not so talkative now, hmm?” she whispers, twisting her wrist perfectly on the upstroke. “Like this?”

“Yeah—shit, just like that.” My voice is completely ragged. I slide a hand up into her hair. “You’re gonna make me lose it, baby.”

She leans in and kisses my neck while her hand keeps working me, driving me right to the edge. I grip her hip, breathing hard. “I’m close.”

She doesn’t stop. She strokes me faster, tighter, until I come with a low groan, spilling over her fingers. The pleasure hits me hard—white-hot and overwhelming—and she keeps touching me through every single pulse until I’m entirely spent and shuddering.

I catch her wrist gently, wiping her fingers on the extra part of the sheet. I bring her hand up to kiss her palm as she snuggles into my chest.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter into her hair. “That wasn’t the plan either.”

She laughs softly against my neck. “Plans are overrated.”

We’re tangled together, our breathing slowly returning to normal. I can’t help myself. I kiss the top of her head and breathe in the scent of her hair. “Just so you know, that wasn’t nothing.”

What I don’t say is the rest of it. That we didn’t even get to the main event, and it’s already the best night of my life. That when we do—whenever she’s ready for all of it—I don’t want it to be a random weeknight with a movie neither of us actually watched.

I’ve got a game on Friday. She’s going to be there. And I’m going to make sure she remembers it.

14

CHLOE

MY HEART IS ON YOUR SLEEVE

Jack shows up at my door in the early afternoon on game day wearing a grin that means he thinks he’s about to win something. There’s a piece of fabric folded over his arm. I know exactly what it’s going to be without having to see the whole thing.

“No,” I say, before he’s even all the way through the door.

“You don’t know what it is.”

“I know it’s a jersey. The answer’s no.”

He holds it up and lets it fall open to its full length. I’m staring directly at a green Dallas jersey with his name and number stitched across the back. He looks at me over the top of it, insufferably pleased with himself.

“You said,” he says, “and I’m quoting, that it was going to take a lot more than seats behind the glass to get you in my jersey.” He drapes it over the back of my chair like he’s laying down a winning poker hand. “So. Here’s the first part. Me wearing my heart on my sleeve. Or, technically, on your future sleeve.”

“You’ve been practicing that one.”

“All afternoon.” He’s not even remotely ashamed.

But I’m looking at his name on the back of the jersey and I know exactly what this is, and he knows exactly what this is. Two months ago, I intentionally wore another team’s colors into his building to make a very specific point. The point was: you don’t have a chance.

Now he’s asking me to walk into that exact same building with his name literally on my back in front of twenty thousand people. Because he absolutely has a chance, and he knows it.

“It’s a big deal,” I say softly.

“I know. That’s why I brought it myself. And if you want to say no, you can, and I’d still get you the good seats. No hard feelings.” He shrugs. “But I really want to see you in it. Just this once. I’ve wanted it since the night you wore the wrong one.”